Clay key to spark of life?RNA carried into bags of fat&liquid as they grow

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/24/clay_cells031024

Clay key to spark of life: study
Last Updated Fri Oct 24 17:52:29 2003
BOSTON-- Clay materials are important for some life-forming processes, new experiments suggest.

Two of the key components needed for the origin of life, genetic material and cell membranes, can speed up the formation of small fluid-filled sacs that may have evolved into the first living cells.

Clay can speed up important chemical reactions in primoridial cells
The little bags of fat and liquid help cells to use genetic material called RNA, an important life process.

Membranes are vital for cell functioning because they protect the contents, concentrate chemicals and help facilitate reactions.
Scientists had found clays could catalyse the chemical reactions needed to make RNA from nucleotide building blocks.

<snip>They found the sacs, or vesicles, grow and divide like primitive cells. By using fluorescently labelled RNA, they discovered clay can also carry RNA into vesicles. <snip>

The study appears in the Oct. 24 issue of the journal Science.